Practice makes perfect: Why it takes 10,000 hours to be a success at anything, according to a top academic

Now a top sociologist has added weight to this age old adage by claiming that you must spend 10,000 hours honing your skills if you want to be a success at anything.

Academic Macolm Gladwell, whose books have become required reading within the Conservative Party, says you need to put in this time over a decade to get to the top of your chosen field.

And he backs up his theory by citing sports stars such as Boris Becker, Jonny Wilkinson, Tiger Woods and the Venus sisters, who have all become world-beaters because of the obsessive devotion they have shown to their game since childhood.

Dedication is what you need: England rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson's world class skills came through years of practicing

In his new book Outliers: The Story of Success, Mr Gladwell says that if you examine the greatest athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians and scientists you will notice they only emerged after spending at least three hours a day for ten years practicing.

'What’s really interesting about this 10,000-hour rule is that it applies virtually everywhere,” Mr Gladwell told a conference held by The New Yorker magazine.

'The tennis prodigy who starts playing at six is playing in Wimbledon at 16 or 17 [like] Boris Becker. The classical musician who starts playing the violin at four is debuting at Carnegie Hall at 15 or so,' he added.

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However, ability, according to Mr Gladwell, is just one factor in success. Work ethic, luck, a strong support base and even being born in the right year play a role.

Just as the Beatles rose to fame with the explosion of pop culture in the 1960s, so Bill Gates’s fascination with the ASR-33 Teletype that he used at school in 1968 placed a shy boy on track to become one of the world’s richest men.

“No one – not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires and not even geniuses – ever makes it alone,” writes Mr Gladwell in his book.

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Mr Gladwell became one of the world’s most influential sociologists with the publication of The Tipping Point in 2000, which described how small actions could trigger social epidemics.

His new book argues that there is no such thing as a “self-made man”.

Instead, the years spent intensively focused on their area of expertise place the world’s most successful people above their peers.

Much of Britain’s Olympic success, he argues, is down to a combination of natural ability and sheer dedication.

Victoria Pendleton’s emphatic gold in the women’s sprint cycling in Beijing came only after humiliating defeat in Athens four years ago.

After training for four hours a day, six days a week the 27-year-old finally reaped the rewards.

Rebecca Adlington, the 19-year-old swimmer who won two gold medals at the Beijing Games, has put in an estimated 8,840 hours of training since the age of 12.

Bill Furniss, her coach, said: “When I first saw her, what stood out was the fact that she was so willing to take the pain and make sacrifices.”

Such dedication is also apparent in musicians. Maxim Vengerov, 34, is one of the world’s greatest violinists.

He was born in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk and, after being given a miniature fiddle at the age of four, displayed outstanding aptitude.

His talent was matched by an immense work ethic. He practised seven hours a day, giving his first recital at the age of five and winning his first international prize at 15.

Mr Vengerov said: 'My mother would get home at 8pm, cook dinner and then teach me the violin until four in the morning. As a four-year-old boy it was torture. But I became a violinist within two years.”'

Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, said those who put in many hours of practice effectively make their own luck:

'They work relentlessly hard, which means when their luck comes they are ready for it,' he added.

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Practice makes perfect: Why it takes 10,000 hours to be a success at anything, according to a top academic